Ambient air pollution exerts deleterious effects on our environment. Continuously exposed to the atmosphere, diverse communities of microorganisms thrive on leaf surfaces, the phylloplane. The composition of these communities is dynamic, responding to many environmental factors including ambient air pollution. In this field study, over a 2 year period, we sampled Hedera helix (ivy) leaves at six locations exposed to different ambient air pollution conditions. Daily, we monitored ambient black carbon (BC), PM2.5, PM10, nitrogen dioxide, and ozone concentrations and found that ambient air pollution led to a 2-7-fold BC increase on leaves, the phylloplane BC load. Our results further indicated that the phylloplane BC load correlates with the diversity of bacterial and fungal leaf communities, impacting diversity more than seasonal effects. The bacterial genera Novosphingobium, Hymenobacter, and Methylorubrum, and the fungal genus Ampelomyces were indicators for communities exposed to the highest phylloplane BC load. Parallel to this, we present one fungal and two bacterial phylloplane strains isolated from an air-polluted environment able to degrade benzene, toluene, and/or xylene, including a genomics-based description of the degradation pathways involved. The findings of this study suggest that ambient air pollution shapes microbial leaf communities, by affecting diversity and supporting members able to degrade airborne pollutants.
Keywords: BTX degradation; Hedera helix; ambient air pollution; black carbon; metabarcoding; microbial communities; phylloplane.